Business owners often use a strategy to protect their assets from potential creditors seeking to realize on their debts. To protect themselves, business owners can transfer ownership of property to family members or create other legal structures to shield assets. However, these strategies (often referred to as “creditor-proofing”) are subject to scrutiny under legislation like …
A Payment Plan Does Not Equal a New Contract
When parties enter into a transactional contract, they are free to enter into a payment plan agreement for outstanding debt owed under the contract. However, the payment plan itself does not necessarily mean that the parties have entered into a new binding contract. Such was the case in Songbird Life Sciences Inc. v. Connectus Services …
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Financial Product Differentiation Using Patents – A Canadian Example (Part 2)
As I mentioned in my previous post, quant and TOBAM funder Yves Choueifaty’s journey towards securing a Canadian patent for his process of constructing “anti-benchmark” securities portfolios has not been easy. But first, a quick detour. Many companies have secured Canadian financial system patents. For example: TD-Bank: 36 patents in block chain, machine learning, recommendations, …
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SUB-PAR CLAIM: FRANCHISEE’S BEEF WITH SUPPLIER LEAVES BAD TASTE
Highlights In general, a supplier’s obligation is to ensure the safety of its goods to the end consumer. A supplier does not owe a duty of care to other commercial parties in a supply chain. Courts are reluctant to recognize that commercial parties in a chain of contracts are provided additional rights outside of a …
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2021 HR CHECK LIST FOR ONTARIO EMPLOYERS
Now that the first anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic is here and there is hope that there will not be a second based on vaccinations, here is an HR Check List that employers should consider as our economy will be re-opening: Ontario employers are required by law to have the following workplace policies: an Accessibility …
Security for Costs
Security For Costs Explained As discussed in Volume 1, Number 4, an unsuccessful party at trial is generally required to pay 60 percent of the successful party’s legal fees. Thus, if the successful party incurred costs of $100,000, the unsuccessful party is responsible to pay the successful party $60,000, in addition to paying his own …
Limitation Periods
Given the ongoing pandemic, many purchasers are unable to pay their vendors for products they received. Many vendors have tried their best to accommodate these purchasers by delaying payment dates or entering into payment plans. But what happens if the purchaser never pays? How much time does the vendor have to sue the purchaser for …
Trezzi v. Trezzi: Can You Gift Assets You Do Not Own?
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently upheld a gift made to beneficiaries under a will, despite the assets being owned by a corporation, and not the deceased himself. This is an important decision that will affect estate planning and will construction. In particular, testamentary gifts that may previously have failed may now be valid. In …
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Onerous Conditions
In my previous blog (Volume 1, Number 2), I discussed the importance of reading contracts before signing them. As a refresher, if you sign a contract, you are generally bound by the terms of the contract even if you had not read the terms of the contract before you signed it. While this advice is …
UPDATED: Ontario Court of Appeal Sends Employers Back to the Drafting Table … AGAIN!
On June 17, 2020, the Court of Appeal for Ontario released its decision in Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., (“Waksdale”) 2020 ONCA 391, delivering a seismic victory for employees, upending decades of practice in drafting employment agreements, and sending companies scrambling to bring their agreements into compliance with the new reality. Drafting Employment Contracts before Waksdale …